A Knight in shining Nerd Herd armour
by vespertine dreams
Summary: Casey and Chuck get caught up in a bank robbery and, after Casey is injured, Chuck has to step up and save the day. Slash- Chuck/Casey. Now complete. Reviews welcome.
1. Chapter 1

A Knight in shining Nerd-Herd armour

(Chapter 1)

Chuck felt the cold metal of the gun barrel pressed to his forehead and had to fight just to avoid a panic attack. His whole body was shaking and he tried to back away, but there was nowhere to back away to. He was pressed between Casey and the wall behind him. Beside him, Casey half-sat, half-slouched against the wall. The bloodstain on his green Buy More shirt was growing steadily, testament to the gunshot wound.

The man in black glanced at Chuck, the gun still pressed to his head, and then back to Casey.

"No more heroics, shop-boy, or I use _him_ as target practice," he said. "Got it?"

Casey nodded, glaring daggers at the man but knowing that he had no choice, and heaved a sigh of relief when the gun was removed.

As the door closed, the man leaving, Chuck took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

After a moment, he reached down and took the gun from the ankle holster that Casey always wore, holding it rather gingerly.

"Show me how to use this."

----------

(Four hours earlier.)

Chuck idly twirled the pen around his fingers, slouching in his chair as he watched Casey from across the store. He rolled his eyes when Morgan wandered over and Casey turned on him, holding the price gun he was using like a weapon and glaring until Morgan backed away. Every time, he thought, yet Morgan always tried again. He had to give his friend points for persistence. Moments later, Morgan sidled up to the Nerd Herd desk and leaned on it with a dramatic sigh.

"He hates me."

"Who?"

Morgan rolled his eyes. "Casey, that's who. I try to be nice but every time I talk to him he gives me this look, like he's mentally listing how many ways he could kill me."

He probably is, Chuck agreed, wisely deciding not to voice that particular piece of information. Morgan just annoyed the crap out of Casey; he didn't even have to do anything in particular. Though, to be fair, Morgan did tend to annoy a lot of people, it was just that he and Chuck had been friends for so long that he was used to most of his best friend's irritating habits so they didn't bother him. It was just a shame that his best friend and his lover couldn't stand each other.

"You seem to get along with him," Morgan went on. "How?"

Usually, under threat to our lives, Chuck thought, or more recently, in bed. Casey hadn't liked him much to begin with either, seeing him as a liability that he had been ordered to babysit. If someone had told him back then that he and Casey would be lovers by this point, he would have laughed in their face. That aspect was only a recent development, but he didn't see it ending anytime soon.

"How about I talk to him?" Chuck suggested, seeing Morgan's face light up with gratitude. "Now, don't you have something you should be doing?"

Morgan looked around the customer-free store pointedly and then back to Chuck. "No. For once, I actually don't have anything to do." He sighed again. "Doing nothing is so much more fun when you have something to avoid doing."

Chuck glanced up as Morgan ambled away toward the AV room, probably for a mid morning nap, and saw Casey's glare. If looks were lasers, Morgan would have two holes through his back. Realising that Chuck had seen him, Casey turned and stickered another box, jabbing it viciously with the sticker gun.

"Bartowski! I got a job for you." Big Mike gave him the address. "Conference suite in the Parkway Hotel; their display system just went down."

"And they don't have anyone on staff who could fix it?" Chuck asked.

"No one closer than we are," Big Mike told him. "Now quit wastin' time and go."

Chuck could almost follow the train of thought without Big Mike saying any more. If they did this job, it might lead to more from the Parkway, and that meant more money. And if there was one thing Big Mike loved in this world it was making money.

"I'm on it." He heard the sound of a sticker gun once more assaulting something. "You mind if I take Casey along?"

Big Mike actually looked relieved.

"Please do."

Chuck fought back a laugh. He knew that Big Mike was wary, if not outright scared, of Casey sometimes. Right now being one of those times. At the moment Casey was bored, just like the rest of the staff, and a bored Casey was a grouchy Casey. He had spent the entire morning growling at anyone who dared to come near him.

"Casey, you're on call-out with Bartowski."

Jeff and Lester reappeared then, watching as Casey followed Chuck out of the store toward the Nerd Herd cars.

"Weird," Lester muttered, as Casey actually smiled for the first time that day.

Jeff and Big Mike nodded in agreement. Casey's whole demeanour altered as he walked out with Chuck, laughing softly at something the other man said.

--------

The repair at the conference centre took less than twenty minutes and then they were leaving again. Chuck had expected it to take longer so he had no intention of going back just yet.

"So, you want to grab some lunch?"

Casey backed Chuck against the car and smirked. "I can think of something else I'd rather grab."

With a cursory glance around to see if they were being watched, he pressed in closer to capture Chuck's lips with his own.

Chuck sighed happily and slipped his arms around Casey's waist. It was nice to be out of the Buy More, to be able to do this. No one except Sarah knew of their relationship, which meant that they had to be careful not to do anything that would give them away. Out from under his friends' watchful gazes, he could let his guard down and just enjoy spending time with Casey.

Reluctantly, Casey took a step back, away from Chuck. "We could just go home," he suggested. "I doubt those morons at the Buy More would even notice."

"No, we couldn't," Chuck told him. "It might just be a cover for you but I actually work- and could be fired- from there."

He locked his bag in the car and stuffed his wallet into his jacket pocket. "I need to make a quick stop before we go for lunch," he said. Casey followed him out into the street, toward the ATM on the bank at the corner. "John, if I asked you to do something for me, would you?"

Casey frowned suspiciously. "That depends on what is."

"You know, the correct answer there would have been 'of course, Chuck, anything you ask'," Chuck informed him. "I just want you to try and be nice to Morgan."

Casey groaned. "Why?" he asked, sounding to Chuck like a petulant child. "He just bugs me."

Biting back a grin, Chuck said, "Because he's my best friend. It would be great if the pair of you could actually get along." Casey was still scowling. "Please, John. For me?"

After a good deal of grumbling and protesting, Casey reluctantly agreed. "I'm not promising anything."

"Just stopping looking at him like you want to strangle him would be a start," Chuck told him. He paused in front of the ATM, reading the Out Of Order sign on it and headed inside the bank instead.

"You're not going to make me actually socialise with Grimes, are you?" Casey asked as they got into line to wait for a cashier.

Chuck laughed. "No. Just be friendly."

Before Casey could respond, the door opened again and four men walked in. Immediately, Casey's senses were on alert. He turned just in time to see three of the men pull pistols out of their jacket pockets, whilst the fourth aimed a black handheld device at the security cameras.

The men had masks pulled over their faces, and now everyone else had noticed. The woman at the counter ahead of Chuck and Casey screamed, a young couple near to the door tried to make a run for it but they were stopped at the door by one of the gunmen.

"Everyone, SHUT UP!"

The silence was instantaneous.

"Now just do what you're told and this will be over soon," the man told them. He nodded to the gunman nearest to him, and together they shepherded the customers and staff into one of the financial advisor's offices, telling them to sit on the floor.

"What's going to happen to us?" an older woman, a customer, whispered once the men had gone, closing them inside.

Chuck smiled. "We just do what they say and it'll be over soon," he said.

He didn't believe it himself, but who was he to shatter their hope. Just because he'd seen more than he wanted to of the bad guys of this world in the past year or so, didn't mean that he couldn't let them believe that things had happy endings. Chuck felt Casey's arm go around him and leaned closer.

"I'm glad you're here," he said. "Well, not glad that you're stuck in the middle of a bank robbery, or that I am for that matter 'cos I can think of a million places I'd rather be. The next time I suggest going for lunch when we should be at work, just remind me of this-"

Casey rolled his eyes. "Chuck, you're babbling."

"Sorry."

--------

Almost an hour later, a commotion could be heard outside. The police had arrived a while ago and the eleven people in the office heaved a sigh of relief, all thinking that it would be alright now, the police would handle everything. Chuck looked up as two men came into the office.

"You," one said, pointing to one of the female cashiers. "Come with me."

When she shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks, he grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. He pulled her to the window and stood her in front of him, picking up the telephone handset on the nearby table. They had heard the phone ring a short time ago, presumably the police negotiators trying to resolve this. Casey got to his feet and moved closer to the door so he could listen, Chuck edging forward with him.

"Now let me tell you again," Chuck heard him say. "If you don't do as I asked, I will kill one hostage each hour until you _do_ start to cooperate. Starting with this one."

A few minutes later, the second man, previously waiting outside the door, pushed the woman back into the office. He didn't notice Casey, standing by the wall, waiting for him to come just that little bit closer…

Chuck, standing close to Casey, could feel him tense, see the focus in his eyes mere seconds before he moved. Moving swiftly, he had the man in a choke-hold before he even got a chance to defend himself. His gun hand raised but Casey was ready, yanking it up behind his back and bending the wrist. Chuck heard a sickening crack and the man howled in pain, the gun clattering uselessly to the floor. The mask the man was wearing followed, giving all of the hostages a clear look at their robber's face.

Suddenly, a shot rang out in the small office.

"Enough!"

Chuck saw the stunned look on Casey's face as he stumbled backwards, releasing his grin on the man. His back hit the wall behind him and he slid down to the floor. When he took his hand away from his stomach, his fingers were sticky with blood.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

A Knight in shining Nerd-Herd armour

(Chapter 2)

Chuck saw Casey's hand come away from his stomach, covered in blood, and rushed to him.

"Oh, God! John?" Chuck crouched beside him, not knowing what to do to help him. "Please be OK, please, please-"

"Chuck. _Chuck_." Casey reached out a hand, touching his palm to Chuck's cheek, and the contact seemed to get through the younger man's panic. "I'll be fine. Trust me; I've been hurt worse."

Their captor crouched in front of them, eyeing Casey warily. As his eyes wandered over them, settling on the uniforms they were both wearing and the ID tag still clipped to Chuck's shirt, his caution became disbelief.

"Buy More? Nerd Herd?" He laughed. "What the hell did you think some minimum-wage shop assistant could do? You might have got lucky once but try it again and you'll find out just how outmatched you are."

Casey growled at him. "_You're_ real lucky I didn't kill that asshole."

"Now you listen to me, and you listen good," the man said, leaning closer. "You stay put and you shut up and maybe I'll let you out of here." He glanced at Chuck, sitting pressed to Casey's side, fingers holding tight to Casey's hand, and smiled menacingly. Knowing he'd just found his leverage, he reached out, resting the barrel of the pistol he held against Chuck's forehead.

Chuck let out a whimper and tried to back away but there was nowhere for him to go as he was already sitting against the wall. Casey could see the sheer terror in his eyes as he heard the low _click_ of the gun being cocked.

"No more heroics, shop-boy, or I use _him_ as target practice," he said. "Got it?"

Casey nodded, glaring daggers at the man but knowing that he had no choice, and heaved a sigh of relief when the gun was removed.

As the door closed, the man leaving, Chuck took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"He's gone, Chuck," Casey said. "You OK?"

Chuck turned to face him and Casey could see that he was shaking.

"He's not going to let us go, is he?"

Casey had a good idea of the answer to that question but he had no intention of voicing it. If it were him, he wouldn't let a man go who had attacked one of his team, and who could identify at least one of them. Not to mention the threat he'd made to the police. When the police didn't come through with whatever they had demanded, the robbers would be back for their hostage, then another.

"I'll get you out of this, Chuck," Casey said, reaching for the gun he always kept strapped to his ankle in the concealed holster. "I won't let them hurt you."

Unfortunately, when he tried to get up he was painfully reminded of the bullet wound in his stomach. Even the act of trying to stand brought a gasp from his lips, a burning pain shooting through his body. This wasn't going to work; he might be able to pick off a few of them but he wasn't at his best and he didn't want to risk Chuck's life if he failed.

Chuck could see the answer in Casey's eyes as he put a hand on his shoulder to make him stay still. Keeping watch for anyone coming into the room, he reached over and took the gun from Casey's fingers.

"Show me how to use this."

"I don't know if-"

Chuck nodded. "Casey, please. The quicker we get out of here the quicker we can get you fixed up. You're not doing too well, no matter how much you're pretending; I live with a doctor, remember?" His resolved slipped a fraction as he added quietly, "I don't want to lose you."

This was a bad idea, Casey thought, but it wasn't Chuck's fault. He should have trained the kid how to look after himself, how to use weapons, hand to hand techniques. As soon as they got out of this mess, he was going to, he decided, and now was as good a time as any to start. He repositioned the gun in Chuck's hand so he held it correctly, ignoring the curious looks from their fellow hostages, and started talking. He only had time to run through it quickly, but he hoped it was enough. He took a small aerosol canister from his pocket, one that Chuck recognised straight away.

"Why do you have that?"

Casey handed it to him. "I thought it might come in useful."

Chuck arched a brow at him, curious. The tiny canister held a chemical agent that, with one spray to the face, could knock out a grown man for about six hours. As far as Chuck knew, they were only supposed to use it during missions, not at work.

"Now this I'm more comfortable with. There's about five doses per canister, right? That's more than enough."

Casey avoided his eyes as he said, "Actually, it's more like three left." Under Chuck's disapproving stare, he said defensively, "It was only a couple of times; it was either that or shoot him."

"Who are you-?" He stared at Casey in disbelief as he worked it out. "You used this on Morgan?"

"You didn't really think he spent so much time asleep in the AV room, did you?"

Chuck glared. "We are going to talk about this when we get home," he said. "And you better apologise to Morgan."

"Yes, sir," Casey grumbled sarcastically. "Not like he'll even know why I'm apologising." He sighed, looking down at the gun in Chuck's hand, his expression shifting back to focussed soldier. "Please be careful," he said. "And remember-"

"I know- pick off the weakest or isolated ones first." Chuck smiled, leaning close to kiss Casey. "I have to do this. And besides, I always kicked Morgan's butt at first-person shooter games."

"Yes, but these guys shoot back," Casey muttered as Chuck eased the door open silently.

--------

Chuck could feel his heart hammering against his ribcage as he peered out of the office to see the man standing guard nearby. It was the same man whose wrist Casey had broken earlier, and he was standing with his back to them at present. Perfect.

Creeping closer, Chuck stood up when he was about two paces away from the man and, canister in one hand, he tapped the man on the shoulder with the other. As soon as he turned, Chuck was ready, giving him a blast with the knock-out gas. The man dropped like a stone. Quickly, Chuck grabbed him around his ankles and started to drag him toward the office and opened the door.

"Help me out, would you?" he whispered.

Two of the other customers scrambled up and dragged the unconscious man inside, stuffing him awkwardly under a desk. If anyone else came in here, they wouldn't be able to see him at least. Chuck took one last look at Casey; the bloodied patch in his shirt was growing at a pace that concerned Chuck. Just the thought that he was doing this for Casey, gave him that extra burst of courage, enough to stop him really thinking this through and running to hide under the nearest desk like his instincts were telling him to.

Leaning out around the corner once more, he saw that the way was clear and left the office. He scuttled across to the security door that led behind the counters, keeping low to the ground and moving silently, glad that he wore his sneakers to work. They might not be up to uniform code at the Buy More but they were damn handy for moving quietly. Here, he would have to stand up in order to type the code into the keypad- helpfully supplied by one of the cashiers- but there was no other choice. The only other way down to the main vault, where two of the men had veered off to as soon as they had entered the bank, was at the far end of the bank's lobby, through another security door that the robbers had already smashed through.

Two men in black, masks now pushed up off their faces, were working with acetylene torches to break through the steel security vault. Chuck watched them for a moment, then ducked back around the corner to plan his next move. There was no way he could take on two of them so he needed to separate them. He smiled, and dug into his pocket.

The shiny quarter rolled across the floor and bounced off the rubber sole of a boot, making its owner look down.

"Where'd that come from?" his partner-in-crime asked.

He shook his head. "Don't know. Keep working; I'll check it out."

Chuck pressed himself back against the wall, fitting his body into the shallow alcove. The footsteps came closer and the first thing he saw was the pistol in the man's hand, ready to be used on whatever or whoever he found. Five paces away, four, three…

The look on the man's face was almost comical as Chuck's hand darted out and sprayed him, a mixture of disbelief and shock as his eyes rolled back in his head. Chuck caught him so that he wouldn't make a noise as he hit the floor and manoeuvred him through the door he had been hiding against. It turned out to be a supply cupboard, but there was enough room to prop his victim up against a shelf and close the door again.

_Two down, two to go_, Chuck told himself, feeling surprised that he had managed to get this far.

When he heard footsteps coming into the vault room, the remaining robber asked,

"Everything OK?"

"Not exactly."

At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, he spun around. And found himself staring at the barrel of Chuck's gun.

"Take your hand away from that weapon, if you don't mind," Chuck told him. "Can I ask you something? Why didn't you just get the manager to open the vault? That's what they always do in the movies." He saw the confused look in the robber's eyes and sighed. "Never mind. Look, I'm sorry about this," he said and then aimed the aerosol spray at him.

Stepping over the unconscious body, Chuck shook the canister, dismayed to find that it was empty. Just as Casey had said.

---------

Out in the lobby, still keeping watch on the movements of the police outside the window, the one remaining thief suddenly realised that something was wrong. It was too quiet; there had been no sound from the hostages for a while now, nothing at all. With one last cursory glance at the window, he palmed the pistol and went to check it out.

That was strange, there was no guard. He was going to kill that imbecile for leaving the hostages unguarded, the thought as he marched up to the office door. Inside, the hostages all looked up as he burst in. He did a quick count and-

"Where is he?" he demanded of Casey, seeing the empty space where Chuck had previously been sitting. "I warned you what would happen if you tried to play the hero."

He cocked the gun and scowled at Casey. "I hope you said goodbye to your little friend because he's a dead man," he said as he stormed back out and slammed the door.

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

A Knight in shining Nerd-Herd armour

(Chapter 3)

As the door slammed, Casey made a decision. The woman who had been strapping a makeshift bandage around his wound looked alarmed as he reached up to grip the filing cabinet nearby, beginning to drag himself to his feet.

"What are you doing? You need to stay still."

Casey shook his head. "If he finds Chuck, he'll kill him. I'm going after them." He held out his hand to her. "Help me up."

He looked over to the unconscious robber under the desk.

"You," he said, indicating to the woman sat nearest to the desk. "He's got a gun on him somewhere- he should have some ammo as well. Pass it over here."

The woman hesitantly reached over and extracted the gun from the man's belt and handed it to Casey before searching his pockets for spare ammunition.

"I can't find anything," she said after checking the last pocket.

Casey sighed and ejected the clip from the pistol. Five shots left in it. Well, that would have to do; he didn't need more than one shot to take out his target anyway.

"Hey, just who are you?" the woman asked.

Casey turned to see all of the other hostages looking at him with the same curiosity and he smiled.

"I just work at the Buy More," he told her, letting himself out of the room.

---------

Chuck moved through the staff areas of the bank, keeping the gun in his hand and checking around each corner before he walked, just as he'd seen Casey and Sarah do a hundred times before. He had no idea where the last man was, and this worried him. The others had all been relatively easy; the two in the vault had been otherwise occupied and therefore easy to sneak up on and the injured man had been at a disadvantage to begin with. This guy scared him the most, the very same man who had put a gun to his head barely an hour earlier and threatened to kill him. Taking a deep breath, Chuck forced himself to keep moving. If he stopped to think about it for any length of time, he'd lose his nerve.

Unfortunately, he hadn't seen any sign of the man since he'd left the office. If only he could use the security cameras to find him, but the robbers had already disabled them by spraying over the lenses when they had first come in. Even if he could get to the controls, all he would see would be a black screen.

A sudden thought struck Chuck and he smiled to himself, turning around and hurrying back down to the vaults.

---------

Casey leaned heavily on the wall to catch his breath, one hand clutching the gun and the other held to his stomach. He wasn't used to this, needing help, feeling weak, and he didn't like it one bit. The thought of leaving Chuck to that psycho, however, was worse. With considerable effort, he pushed away from the wall and made himself walk, realising belatedly that he was leaving a trail of blood smears down the walls and counters he was using for support. It was careless, he knew, but then again, he wasn't the one being stalked. Chuck was.

---------

Chuck went to the two unconscious men near the vaults and searched them for what he wanted. Both men had a hand-held radio, and he took them both. One, he switched off, tossing it back into the room, but the other he took with him.

He made his way back through the corridors, re-checking to make sure that the remaining man had not come down this way. There was still no sign of him but Chuck had a plan. Granted, it was a plan based on some dumb movie that he'd seen years ago, and in said movie, it hadn't actually worked, but it was the best he had.

Twisting the volume on the radio he held down to minimum, Chuck pressed the transmit button over and over again. He kept moving, creeping silently as he listened, the gun still in his other hand. It was no use, he thought, until a low sound caught his attention. He stopped. There is was again.

Chuck grinned, hardly believing that it had worked. Knowing that it would only be a matter of seconds before the robber figured it out and switched off his radio, Chuck hurried as quietly as he could toward the intermittent crackles of static that he could hear.

Sure enough, the sound cut off a moment later and Chuck deposited the radio on a counter as he passed by. It didn't matter now; the static bursts had already told him roughly where the man was.

---------

Casey heard the static and headed that way. He knew that the robbers had been carrying radios as they had already found the one on the guy Chuck had left in the office. The noise just had to be Chuck's doing, he thought, smiling.

He heard the sound of footsteps ahead of him and tried to move faster but it was getting nigh on impossible. He was having to lean on the counters all of the way, now, leaving bloodied hand-prints behind him, and feeling the cold sweat on his skin with the effort of just keeping himself upright.

Just a little bit further, he kept telling himself.

---------

Chuck heard the faint scuff of a shoe on carpet and turned just in time to see the very man he had been searching for some though the door. They saw each other at the same time, both whipping their guns up, training them on each other. The robber's eyes showed his disdain for Chuck.

"Nerd guy?"

"No," Chuck told him, wanting to wipe that smug look of the jerk's face. "Agent Charles Carmichael."

He saw the robber's eyes widen fractionally and his thumb shifted on the gun's trigger.

---------

Casey rounded the corner just in time to see the robber, with his back to Casey, make a move to fire but another shot rang out. He saw Chuck, the gun held steady in his hand. The minute he'd said those words, his posture had changed, going to his Agent Carmichael persona. Sure, he'd squeezed his eyes shut as he fired but the shot had hit the target.

After a moment, Chuck opened one eye and looked around suspiciously before opening the other. His gaze fell to the man lying in front of him, a wet patch of blood slowly appearing on his chest.

Suddenly, the doors burst open and chaos descended on the bank. Amid yells of 'Armed Police!' and 'Drop your weapons!', the bank was filled with blue uniformed men and women in bullet-proof vests and helmets. The noise snapped Chuck out of him daze and it was then that he saw Casey.

"John!"

He managed to catch Casey before he fell and lowered him to the ground but he was dragged away. Chuck found himself surrounded by guns, all pointed at him as he was ordered to get on the floor and drop his gun. Only then did he realise that he was still holding it.

Chuck threw the gun away before trying to get back to Casey but the police wouldn't let him as he too was surrounded by police. Casey had surrendered his gun and was in no state to make a getaway but they were still guarding him.

"I'm not one of them!" he protested. "Just let me see if John's OK. He needs an ambulance; get him some help, please."

Chuck was pushed roughly back to the floor and handcuffs snapped around his wrists before he was dragged to his feet.

"Wait."

Chuck and the police holding him turned to see Casey trying to get up and failing, sliding back down the wall.

"He's telling the truth. We were taken hostage along with ten other people. They're in the first office on the right, along with one of the robbers."

Another officer was dispatched to check out his story, returning a few moments later and confirming it. He was followed by the other men and women who had been in the office, all beginning to protest when they saw Chuck in handcuffs.

It took a while but eventually the handcuffs were removed. Casey was being loaded on to a stretcher and Chuck pushed his way through the police to get to him.

"Mr Bartowski, we'll be needing to speak with you-"

Casey looked up. "No, you won't, not unless he wants to." He reeled off the emergency telephone number that was used if ever he needed to verify his security clearance. "Call it."

The paramedics took charge then, collecting up their med-kits and wheeling the stretcher back out to the ambulance. Chuck followed, refusing to leave his side as they moved through the growing crowd outside. The police were trying to keep the area clear but the story had already reached the media. Reporters shouted questions at them, snapping pictures and trying to get as close as possible with cameras. It seemed that at least one of the other hostages had told them that Chuck had gone after the robbers as he heard one reporter shout,

"Sir, is it true that you took on the thieves single handedly?"

Chuck ignored them, climbing into the back of the ambulance with Casey.

---------

In the Buy More, most of the staff had gathered around the TV wall, watching as the story unfolded. There had been a robbery and some people had been taken hostage, the news anchor said. There were pictures from outside the bank of the moment that the police had stormed the building.

"Hey, guys, look!" Lester pointed to the screens excitedly. "The hostages are coming out."

Everyone's attention turned back to the screens, watching as the anchor man handed back over to the pretty brunette reporter who was outside the bank.

"_It seems that our hero is camera shy,"_ she was saying. _"According to the accounts of those people held in the bank, this man defended their lives by single handedly taking on the thieves. Our source says that he is an employee of the Buy More store who was a customer in the bank at the time of the robbery. He is seen here getting into the ambulance with his friend, another employee of the Buy More, after he was shot by one of the thieves. We do not have details on his condition at this point but reports say that he was badly hurt."_

As a freeze frame of Chuck, looking at the camera for a split second as he climbed into the ambulance, came onto the screen, silence fell around the TV screens.

"Was that-?"

Morgan stared at the picture. "Chuck did that?" He smiled. "Way to go, Chuck."

Lester frowned. "He left with Casey, right? That means it was Casey who got shot…"

Morgan was already dialling on his cell phone. He finally managed to get hold of Chuck, telling him how they'd seen the news and asking how Casey was doing.

"I don't know," Chuck told him. "They took him into surgery as soon as we got here and I haven't heard anything since."

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

A Knight in shining Nerd-Herd armour

(Chapter 4)

After three days, Morgan was getting worried. He hadn't heard anything from Chuck since speaking to him at the hospital, just after they had taken Casey into surgery. He had tried calling the hospital but the receptionist wouldn't tell him anything as he wasn't family. Eventually, he went to Ellie in the hope that she would know what was going on.

"They've got Casey's room under security lockdown," she told Morgan. "The press are all over this, wanting to talk to Chuck and John. Chuck has stayed there with him since they came in."

It had been a shock for her, too, seeing her brother come in with Casey and then hearing about what had happened in the bank. She could hardly believe that Chuck had done what everyone said he had; imagine, her brother standing up to armed robbers! She had checked on Casey's progress a couple of times with the doctors who were treating him and she assured Morgan that he was going to be alright. Seeing Morgan's worried face staring back at her, pleading silently, she promised to ask if he would be allowed to visit.

The following evening, Morgan, Anna, Jeff and Lester followed Ellie through the corridors, passing the two security guards standing outside the private room where Casey was. Sarah was already here, somewhere, but Ellie had seen her go off to get a cup of coffee a while ago.

"Go on in," she old them, informing the guards that they had permission and leaving to go back to work.

Morgan was the first in and, barely a few steps through the door, he stopped dead. Casey was half sitting up, with Chuck curled up beside him, both of them squeezed onto the single bed. Casey's arm was around Chuck's shoulders. They looked up as the door opened and Chuck almost fell off the bed in surprise. He quickly righted himself and began to move but Casey grabbed his arm to keep him where he was.

"What are you doing here?" Casey asked the visitors, looking suspicious.

Morgan moved further into the room, the others following and closing the door.

"We saw what happened on the news and we heard that you'd been hurt," Lester said. "We wanted to come and see you, make sure you were alright."

Casey frowned. "Why?"

Lester frowned back. "We were worried; you're our friend, Casey," he pointed out. "Even if you do treat us like idiots and yell at us all the time-" He paused as Anna glared at him. "I'll just shut up now."

Chuck saw the surprised look on Casey's face.

"Told you, you're one of us now," he murmured, smiling at the glare Casey gave him.

The Buy More contingent sat down and made themselves comfortable as Jeff and Lester fired questions at Chuck. They had heard the media's version of what happened in the bank but now they wanted all of the details. They discussed it as though it were a movie they'd just seen, Anna joining in every so often. Only Morgan stayed quiet. His gaze seemed fixed on Chuck and Casey's hands, where they were still clasped together in Chuck's lap as he perched on the edge of the bed.

"Morgan, are you OK?" he asked eventually.

The conversation stopped and all eyes focussed on Morgan.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Chuck?" he asked quietly, indicating to the two of them.

Chuck glanced at Casey, who nodded. It's your decision, his look said, but I'm OK with whatever you tell him. Chuck looked over at Morgan.

"John and I, we've… I mean, we, well…"

"I think he's trying to tell you that he and Casey are a couple," Sarah announced from the doorway as she came back into the room, handing Chuck a cardboard cup of vending-machine coffee.

The Buy More group stared at her first and then Chuck and Casey.

"How long has this been going on?" Morgan asked, looking hurt that he hadn't known.

"About three months."

Sarah picked up her coffee again and hustled Jeff, Lester and Anna outside, leaving the others to talk. Chuck waited until the door was closed before letting go of Casey's hand and going to sit in the chair next to Morgan.

"I should have told you."

Morgan just glared at him. "Three months! You're my best friend, Chuck; I tell you everything." He thought for a moment. "You told Sarah, your _ex_, but not me?"

Put like that, it did sound bad, but he couldn't explain it without telling Morgan all about the Intersect and the spy stuff. Sarah had needed to know about the change in Chuck and Casey's relationship for purely practical purposes. As one of his handlers, she had to know of anything that might possibly compromise him on a mission. If he were seeing if from the point of view of an outsider, as Morgan was to that part of his life, he'd be annoyed too.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I didn't know how you'd react."

Morgan shook his head in dismay. "Well, you should have trusted me enough to know that I'd have been happy for you," he said, getting up. "Casey, I'm glad you're OK." Then he left.

Chuck just stared at the closed door.

"You OK?" Casey asked, holding a hand out for Chuck to come back to the bed. "He'll come around, you'll see."

----------

Two weeks later, Chuck was still hoping. Casey had been allowed to return home, where Chuck had decided that he was moving in temporarily to look after him. Ellie hadn't questioned his announcement and Chuck had to assume that Morgan had spoken to her, told her about him and Casey. Unfortunately, all that he could do was assume as Morgan still wasn't returning his calls.

"Are you sure you'll be OK on your own?" Chuck asked.

Casey sighed. "For the hundredth time, Chuck, yes. It's not like I haven't been shot before."

Chuck balanced one hand against the back of the couch and leaned down to press a kiss to Casey's mouth.

"Fine, I'll go," he relented. "But you promise you'll call me if you need anything."

Half an hour later, Chuck walked into the Buy More to a round of applause. Pasting a smile on his face, he made his way to the locker rooms, just wishing they would all just treat him normally. They were treating him like some kind of hero but in reality he was tired of the media harassing him and the whispers and stares. This was the first time he had come into work since that day at the bank, taking time off until he was sure that Casey was alright.

The door opened and Morgan came in but he ignored Chuck, simply hanging up his jacket and leaving again.

"Morgan, can we talk? Please?"

"No."

Chuck spent the rest of the morning keeping out of everyone's way, down in the cage, doing repairs but by noon, he just wanted to get away from the Buy More. When he left for his lunch, he went across to the Orange Orange to find Sarah.

"Could you do me a favour?"

Sarah listened, agreeing.

Five minutes after Chuck returned to the store, a call came in for an installation, asking for him in particular to go and carry it out.

"Bartowski, call-out!" Big Mike handed him the address, the fake one that he had agreed with Sarah so that he'd know it wasn't a real call. Chuck nodded, collecting his gear and jacket and heading out to the car. As he drove out past the Orange Orange, he smiled in thanks to Sarah.

---------

"So, you're playing hooky?" Casey asked.

Chuck nodded, kicking off his shoes and settling himself on the couch next to Casey.

"Grimes is still acting like a jerk?"

"Yes, _Morgan_'s still angry with me," Chuck said pointedly but Casey ignored him. He had no sympathy for Grimes, as Chuck seemed to. In Casey's mind it was pretty clear; he was upsetting Chuck and therefore he was being a jerk.

When said jerk appeared at the door some four hours later, Casey was sorely tempted to wring his scrawny little neck.

"What do you want?" he growled.

He had to bite back a satisfied smile as Morgan flinched at his tone but he stood his ground.

"I'm looking for Chuck," he said. "Ellie told me he was here."

Chuck appeared in the doorway behind Casey and Casey slid an arm around his waist. Chuck could see Morgan watching but he didn't comment.

"Can I come in?"

Casey glanced at Chuck and at his nod, stepped back. Morgan followed them to the lounge and sat down.

"Say what you came here to say, Grimes," Casey told him.

"You think I could talk to Chuck alone?"

Chuck felt Casey lean against his side in a gesture of defiance, and shook his head. "Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to him."

Morgan looked across at Casey and then back to Chuck.

"I'm sorry about how I reacted. I was just surprised," he said. "And maybe a bit hurt. I mean, this is huge- and I'm not saying I completely get it, not after Jill and then Sarah- and you never told me."

"I know."

"I'm your best friend, Chuck. I should have been the first to know, not the last."

Morgan hadn't said 'was' his best friend, hadn't said in the past tense. Chuck heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that they'd be alright now. He had realised at work today that the thought of losing his best friend scared him more than going after those guys in the bank had, coming a joint first with the thought of losing Casey.

"Next time, you'll be the first person I tell, I promise."

Casey frowned and pinched his arm, hard, making Chuck yelp. "Better not be a next time," he said.

"Relax, John, it was a figure of speech, not a declaration," Chuck told him, rolling his eyes and rubbing his arm.

Morgan watched the two of them together and wondered why he hadn't seen it earlier. He, like the other staff, had noticed that Chuck and Casey were friendly but that was all they had thought it to be. Friends.

"So," Chuck said. "We OK?"

Morgan smiled. "Of course." He looked over at Casey hopefully. "So, does this mean you're going to start being nice to me?"

Casey grunted. "Don't push it, Grimes."

------

End.

________________________________________________________________________

A.N- This was meant to stop at chapter 3, after the bank, but I couldn't resist adding this chapter on as well. I wanted to put Morgan's reaction in when he found out.


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